Tag: lgbt books

• A Touching Exploration of Identity in Jeffrey Buchanan’s The Birds Began to Sing

  Jeffrey Buchanan’s Gifkins Award-winning novel, The Birds Began to Sing, is precious, tender, and sombre. Exploring many queer themes like homosexuality, transexuality, internalised homophobia, identity, and living in a world where homosexuality is a crime, this novel is full of many heartfelt moments, revelations, and complexities that make it not only a standout novel, but…

  annafromuni

  November 3, 2025

  Historical Fiction

  adult book recs, adult crime fiction, annafromuni, aotearoa new zealand, book review, crime mystery, jeffrey buchanan, lgbt book recs, lgbt books, lgbt characters, new zealand authors, NZ author, NZ book recs, nz crime fiction, NZ Fiction, nz historical fiction, nz history, nz reading, NZ stories, nz voices, queer authors, queer book recs, queer communities, queer fiction, reading new zealand, the birds began to sing

• Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin is an LGBT Classic

  This classic is powerful, mesmerising, and heartbreaking in so many ways. Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin is one of those short novels that fills the whole space, with life in every word and emotion seeping off the page. It is lyrical and intense and complex and impossible to ignore. It is rough, focusing on many…

  annafromuni

  September 24, 2025

  Classic Fiction, Poetry and Short Stories

  adult book recs, adult fiction, american lit, american literature, annafromuni, book review, classic adult fiction, Classic Fiction, classic literature, giovanni’s room, james baldwin, lgbt book recs, lgbt books, lgbt characters, literary fiction, poetic prose, queer authors, queer book recs, queer communities, queer fiction, queer historical fiction, queer representation, scholarly reading month, short books, short stories

• A Sinister Mystery in Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé 

  This dark academia is probably the darkest of my selection here. Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé is a YA dark academia novel that not only delves into serious, heavy, and dark subjects, but criticises many sexist and elitist elements surrounding these topics, especially in an private academia institution. It is a hard-hitting read,…

  annafromuni

  September 10, 2025

  Crime Fiction, dark academia

  academic fiction, adult book recs, adult crime thriller, adult thriller, annafromuni, bipoc authors, bipoc communities, book recommendations, book review, crime mystery, crime thriller, dark academia, dark academia books, dark crime, dark thriller, diversity, diversity representation, faridah abike iyimide, lgbt book recs, lgbt books, lgbt characters, queer book recs, queer fiction, queer representation, scholarly reading month, thriller, thriller mystery, where sleeping girls lie, YA book recs, ya books, ya crime fiction, ya crime mystery, ya crime thriller

• A Powerful Search for Identity in Shilo Kino’s All That We Know

  Long-listed for the New Zealand Ockhams Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, Shilo Kino’s All The We Know grabbed my attention and interest. Then I started reading it and I couldn’t put it down. It is the perfect book for young readers, readers exploring their identity, and those wanting to connect or reconnect with their…

  annafromuni

  March 14, 2025

  Contemporary Fiction, NZ Fiction

  adult book recs, all that we know, annafromuni, aotearoa nz book month, book review, contemporary adult fiction, Contemporary Fiction, kiwi fiction, kiwi novels, kiwi stories, kiwi voices, lgbt book recs, lgbt books, lgbt characters, NZ author, nz book month, NZ book recs, NZ Fiction, nz reading, NZ stories, nz voices, queer book recs, queer fiction, queer representation, shilo kino, YA book recs, ya contemporary fiction

• Queer Book Recs to Celebrate Pride Month

  It is Pride Month in New Zealand, so for today’s post I have a collection of book recommendations for you with LGBTQ+ themes and characters, some of which are also written by authors who are part of the LGBTQ+ community. With so many perspectives, experiences, and voices to listen to from this community, I thought…

  annafromuni

  February 8, 2025

  Discussion Posts

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• Carmen Maria Machado’s Her Body and Other Parties – Genre-Bending and Unique

  Another day, another short story collection to pass the time. Carmen Maria Machado’s Her Body and Other Parties is a genre-blending selection of tales that will both titillate and terrify you. Mixing science fiction and horror with literary fiction with a heavy smattering of some sexually explicit details, this collection is full of LGBTQ+ representation…

  annafromuni

  November 28, 2024

  Contemporary Fiction, Horror, Poetry and Short Stories, science fiction

  adult book recs, adult fiction, annafromuni, book review, carmen maria machado, contemporary adult fiction, Contemporary Fiction, her body and other parties, horror books, horror fiction, lgbt books, lgbt characters, literary fiction, mild horror, popular on bookstagram, popular on booktok, queer authors, queer fiction, queer representation, science fiction, science fiction recommendations, shirley jackson, short stories, short story collection

• This Is How You Lose The Time War – This Is How You Write A Sapphic Forbidden Love Story

  You’re missing out if you haven’t read This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladwell. Like, truly, from the bottom of my heart, I implore you to add this to your TBR at the very least because it will change the way you view poetic prose and science fiction.…

  annafromuni

  March 9, 2024

  science fiction

  Amal El-Mohtar, book review, lgbt books, lgbt characters, Max Gladwell, narrative style, queer representation, science fiction, science fiction recommendations, science fiction recs, scifi books, short books, This Is How You Lose The Time War, time travel, writing techniques

• Lev AC Rosen’s The Bell in the Fog is Like a Fine Wine

  I loved Lavender House and I love Bell in the Fog even more. Lev AC Rosen is a brilliant writer and has captured the world of 1950s America from a queer lens with such vivid detail and truth. While this one is shorter, it is no less gripping and I need to gush about it…

  annafromuni

  February 22, 2024

  Historical Fiction

  book review, Historical Fiction, historical fiction book recommendation, historical fiction mystery, historical fiction reads, lavender house, lev ac rosen, lgbt books, lgbt characters, queer fiction, queer historical fiction, queer representation, the bell in the fog

• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Hasn’t Convinced Me

  I read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid over a few days, getting a handful of chapters in during evenings and finishing up the rest over the weekend. Now that it’s done, I can’t help but wish there was more to it. More about the story that wasn’t to do with…

  annafromuni

  February 1, 2024

  Historical Fiction

  book review, evelyn hugo, Historical Fiction, historical romance, lgbt books, lgbt characters, popular on bookstagram, popular on booktok, queer fiction, queer historical fiction, queer representation, taylor jenkins reid, the seven husbands of evelyn hugo, tjr, tjr books